- Occupation
Producer, Director - Country
Hungary
Szekeres Csaba
Symbiosis
Autism researchers believe that autistic people can be integrated into society by a method called the Farm Program. In the northern part of Hungary, there functions a center for helping autistic children. The Center established a small farm in a village, where children were taken one by one by their tenders to get accustomed to the new, hopefully welcoming environment.The film follows the first journey of one autistic child to the farm and his meeting with the neighbors, drawing a possible perspective of this wonderful attempt from the point of view of all the parties involved. "Symbiois" portrays the kind of helplessness that originates from the recognition of our obstacles and our inability to change them.We see the moment when a change in everyday life occurs because of the arrival of an autistic child, and nobody seems to be able to handle this change.
Vortex
Filmed over a period of six months, this social documentary feature film shows the lives of Roma families in a small village in Hajdu-Bihar county, North-East Hungary, close to the Romania border. Unemployment is close to 100% in this community, and the isolation, poverty and discrimination against Roma create a situation in which families find it hard to live decent lives. The film focuses on the experiences of three families, following the various hardships and setbacks they faced over this period. Problems of illness, poor living conditions, lack of basic amenities and even house collapse combine with fears of children being taken into care, with ever-present challenges of finding enough food, and wood to heat their houses. This creates a situation in which hope is hard to find and in which children suffer as well as the adults. Solutions are not simple or easy, and the local services struggle to find ways to help these people out of their desperate plights.
Autism researchers believe that autistic people can be integrated into society by a method called the Farm Program. In the northern part of Hungary, there functions a center for helping autistic children. The Center established a small farm in a village, where children were taken one by one by their tenders to get accustomed to the new, hopefully welcoming environment.The film follows the first journey of one autistic child to the farm and his meeting with the neighbors, drawing a possible perspective of this wonderful attempt from the point of view of all the parties involved. "Symbiois" portrays the kind of helplessness that originates from the recognition of our obstacles and our inability to change them.We see the moment when a change in everyday life occurs because of the arrival of an autistic child, and nobody seems to be able to handle this change.
Vortex
Filmed over a period of six months, this social documentary feature film shows the lives of Roma families in a small village in Hajdu-Bihar county, North-East Hungary, close to the Romania border. Unemployment is close to 100% in this community, and the isolation, poverty and discrimination against Roma create a situation in which families find it hard to live decent lives. The film focuses on the experiences of three families, following the various hardships and setbacks they faced over this period. Problems of illness, poor living conditions, lack of basic amenities and even house collapse combine with fears of children being taken into care, with ever-present challenges of finding enough food, and wood to heat their houses. This creates a situation in which hope is hard to find and in which children suffer as well as the adults. Solutions are not simple or easy, and the local services struggle to find ways to help these people out of their desperate plights.
The Glass Cage
Many murders happen in front of three people's eyes: the killer, the victim, and a third person who is an eyewitness. The eyewitness is able to come to the victim’s aid in only a very small number of these cases. We can call the eyewitness ‘the third man’. In 1941, about 184,000 Jews lived in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. During the German occupation (from March of 1944), the Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross Party came to power and carried out violent attacks against the Jews. They were shot and thrown into the Danube River. Tens of thousands of Jews died on death marches from Budapest to Austria. The Arrow Cross then searched for Jews across the city and murdered them. The ending of the Second World War Budapest was the only large city in Europe where a substantial number of Jews avoided extermination. In all, about 100,000 Jews survived in Budapest. Two points of view are the prime focus: first, DAVID GUR, a member of the Hungarian Zionist Movement, and second, CHARLES LUTZ, the Swiss diplomat. David Gur’s motivation was to save human lives even if this had to be done illegally. In the story of David Gur we come to know the greatest and most skillful document forger in Europe. Lutz wanted the same outcomes, but achieved in legal ways.†The Lutz story can take us inside the secret life of diplomats, and the labyrinth in which were built up the moral and the political elements in this critical situation. A Swiss diplomat, Charles Lutz, in collaboration with the Hungarian Zionist Movement, established a place to save lives. This place was the Glass House, an glass factory in Budapest, no. 29 Vadász street, where worked the rescuers. Their aim were same, but the tools were contrary. Although the final result was successful, but wasn’t the end of this story. After WW2 Lutz’s homeland punished him for breaking the rule of diplomatic neutrality, because he used his diplomatic powers to aid Jewish people, against the aims of the Nazis. And the Hungarian Zionist Movement also suffered when world Jewish organizations called them to account because they had not risen up in the same way as had their fellow sufferers in Poland. The Glass House turned into cage. Is it the cage of the deficiency of the honorable mention. Because of this is talking the film about GLASS CAGE STORY.
Many murders happen in front of three people's eyes: the killer, the victim, and a third person who is an eyewitness. The eyewitness is able to come to the victim’s aid in only a very small number of these cases. We can call the eyewitness ‘the third man’. In 1941, about 184,000 Jews lived in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. During the German occupation (from March of 1944), the Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross Party came to power and carried out violent attacks against the Jews. They were shot and thrown into the Danube River. Tens of thousands of Jews died on death marches from Budapest to Austria. The Arrow Cross then searched for Jews across the city and murdered them. The ending of the Second World War Budapest was the only large city in Europe where a substantial number of Jews avoided extermination. In all, about 100,000 Jews survived in Budapest. Two points of view are the prime focus: first, DAVID GUR, a member of the Hungarian Zionist Movement, and second, CHARLES LUTZ, the Swiss diplomat. David Gur’s motivation was to save human lives even if this had to be done illegally. In the story of David Gur we come to know the greatest and most skillful document forger in Europe. Lutz wanted the same outcomes, but achieved in legal ways.†The Lutz story can take us inside the secret life of diplomats, and the labyrinth in which were built up the moral and the political elements in this critical situation. A Swiss diplomat, Charles Lutz, in collaboration with the Hungarian Zionist Movement, established a place to save lives. This place was the Glass House, an glass factory in Budapest, no. 29 Vadász street, where worked the rescuers. Their aim were same, but the tools were contrary. Although the final result was successful, but wasn’t the end of this story. After WW2 Lutz’s homeland punished him for breaking the rule of diplomatic neutrality, because he used his diplomatic powers to aid Jewish people, against the aims of the Nazis. And the Hungarian Zionist Movement also suffered when world Jewish organizations called them to account because they had not risen up in the same way as had their fellow sufferers in Poland. The Glass House turned into cage. Is it the cage of the deficiency of the honorable mention. Because of this is talking the film about GLASS CAGE STORY.
Csaba Szekeres is a multi-award-winning independent filmmaker. Born in a North-Hungarian small town (Mezőkövesd) in 1968. After graduating with a degree in Hungarian language and literature and film study from the College of Szombathely (Berzsenyi Dániel Főiskola) he moved to Paris to study the French theatre in 1993. He decided to pursue a career in filmmaking. Shot in the same year, his first documentary Provence Letters premiered at Spectrum (HBO distribution). Multitasking as a director, writer, editor and sometimes cameraman, he has over the past 15 years developed a Hungarian and international reputation with a range of unique and critically acclaimed short and feature documentaries with social reach. His more recent and perhaps best-known work includes Dream Tour (2005) that premiered at New York Festivals and won the Special Jury Prize. His latest film, Three Children, Three Fates – was nominated in 2009 for the Teaching Award Prizes in London. Awards: 2009 - NEXUS - Best director's prize - 40th Hungarian Film Week; 2007 - ZOZO – Camera Hungaria; 2007 - Dream Tour, New York Festivals, Special Prize; Golden Eye Prize, Camera Hungaria, Prizma Festival, Best director's prize; Hégető Honorka Prize. 2005 - Mom and Her Daughter - FILM.DOK Festival, Best Documentary; 2005 - Kinder Garden – The Best First Feature Film From Student Jury; 2004 - Anima Formosa – Ecumenical Film Festival; 2004 - The Train - FILM.DOK Festival; 2003 - Miami Blue – Hégető Honorka Prize; 2000 - Rom és virág – Best director's prize 31st Hungarian Film Week.
2009 - NEXUS - Best director's prize - 40th Hungarian Film Week
2007 - ZOZO – Camera Hungaria
2007 - DREAM TOUR
New York Festivals, Special Prize;
Golden Eye Prize
Camera Hungaria,
Prizma Festival, Best director's prize
Hégető Honorka Prize